In a conversation on Uninterrupted, James began his explanation by citing all of the emotions he went through as he broke the 52-year drought of professional sports championships in Cleveland.

“That one right there made me the greatest player of all time,” James said. “That’s what I felt. I was super, super ecstatic to win one for Cleveland because of the 52-year drought. Like I was ecstatic. Obviously the first wave of emotion was when everyone saw me crying, like that was all for 52 years of everything in sports going on in Cleveland.”

James then explained why he felt that he did something truly special by beating a Golden State Warriors team that had won 73 games in the prior regular season.

“And then after I stopped I was like, ‘That one right there made you the greatest of all time.’ Everybody was talking about how they were the greatest team of all time, like they were the greatest team ever assembled,” said James. “And for us to come back, you know, the way we came back in that fashion, I was like, ‘You did something special.'”

In the incredible series comeback, James willed his team to the promised land despite facing a 3-1 deficit against the Warriors. Their 73-win season in the regular season leading up to the 2016 NBA Finals had broken the record for most wins in an 82-game NBA season. The Cavs had been heavy underdogs in the series, and the shocking comeback earned James a unanimous Finals MVP award.

James has a valid point. He did something that nobody in the history of the game had done before. Not only did he come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals, he did it against a team that had won more games than any team before.

James played like a man possessed over the last three games of the series, averaging 36.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 9.7 assists per game. While the argument about whether or not James is the greatest of all time will likely rage on forever, there is no arguing that what he did in that series was truly special.

About Abhinav Seetharaman

Abhinav Seetharaman has been a passionate NBA follower for the last 13
years. He is an ardent Cavs fan who has supported the team since he first
fell in love with basketball. While his favorite player is LeBron James, he
still reps the Land all day and is incredibly excited to write for
Cavaliers Nation. Abhinav received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in May 2018, and will be returning to Columbia this fall to pursue his Masters. You can follow him at @AbhiSeeTheRamen.